Are we ready for a Facebook powered smartphone? Do we even want one?

So now that everyone is talking about this semi-cryptic invitation Facebook sent out regarding a “new home for Android,” the question must be asked, are we ready for a Facebook powered smartphone? Do we even really want a Facebook powered smartphone?

The first question is fairly easy to answer, yes. Yes, “we” will certainly be able to handle whatever is unveiled next week. Yes, the market will certainly bear the burden of a new product or service and it will either succeed or fail.

The second question is not so easy to answer with a resounding “yes.” This is not a slight against Facebook or the way it handles its business. However, there is a hurdle that Facebook faces which other near-ubiquitous services are better positioned to handle and have handled with aplomb, like Google. Facebook and Google are alike in that hundreds of millions of people use their products. Each also have a dedicated core of users that love everything about their respective services. However, we can say the similarities end there.

Facebook needs the world to work within the framework of what makes Facebook work as a social network. Certainly the social network is successful, easily half of the access to Facebook is done from mobile devices, so it makes sense that Facebook would invest heavily in developing the network for the mobile platform. However, Facebook is facing a fatigue factor, there is only so much “share this” or “like” that which resonates with a user. After a while, all you may end up seeing is a collage of pictures of what people ate for breakfast intertwined with comments about puppies and children (yes, we are deliberately being overly simplistic).

Google on the other hand, does not operate in such confines, and the breadth of its services is far wider. On top of that, it is easier, and far more functional to integrate daily lives around what Google has designed as a whole. Google allows the world to come to it, rather than being centered as a news-feed of delivering the world to its users.

Can Facebook offer something similar? A complete user experience which can provide a mobile platform covering all the bases, from calendars to messaging, contacts to voice calling, documents in the cloud to email? No doubt Facebook would love it if people used all of its services the way users of Google (and to some extent Microsoft) do. Will the world bend to Facebook’s will?

We will not forecast on something we know so little about, but we will say this: the context of how we use our smartphones is the standard and it explains why Android and iOS platforms are the current benchmarks. As users, we are accustomed to diving deep into a single application to accomplish something. That it is not the most efficient way to do things is irrelevant, it is the reality of “what is” and that is one of the user experience challenges that Windows Phone has been hammering away at with its own deep Facebook integration.

Because of that, an arguably small segment smartphone users are actually “all-in” with their respective platforms. Android, iOS and Windows Phone all have different strengths when it comes to this, but in the end, the majority of people do not put all their eggs in one basket. However, if they were, is Facebook the right basket?

It is obvious why Facebook is pointing both barrels at mobile, and it does not take a brain surgeon to see why HTC is a willing partner. What is not as obvious is why people that already use Facebook on their smartphone, tablet and computer would feel compelled to make a leap into a Facebook-first environment on different hardware.

That will be the key to next Thursday’s announcement, Facebook will unveil its “new home on Android,” but must also show how it needs to become your home and make it the hub of all your mobile activities. That is what we will be looking for and that is what we will be sharing with you as well when PhoneArena.com covers the event for you.

59.jcarrigan (unregistered)

id rather own an iPhone than buy a facebook phone. My life doesnt revolve around people liking my statuese and pictures on facebook. And besides as the old joke goes "the more friends you have on facebook, the less you have in real life" :)

I was just generally asking PhoneArenaUser to EXPLAIN why he doesn't want one, if you had read my comment below then you wouldn't need to bark back at me. Man, 20 dislikes, people aren't the fastest at thinking on PA sometimes.

That's what i'm thinking. I use Facebook, like everyday...i check and comment on my friend's photos and statuses. But while i can access Facebook from my phone through the internet, i don't really think i need a Facebook phone.
I just want to know what features it comes with that makes it stand out from the rest.

No and you couldnt even give me one. Fb is a joke. Before you activate it you would probably have to consent to giving All of your privacy to fb. All pix post and text would become property of fb. All the advertisement. And all the emails from in your inbox from the tracking mechanism built into the phone. Z should stick to fb and stay out of phone business and wallstreet

I think Facebook is not there yet in order to provide a full OS system. Granted there are a few things they have like the contact list (just like your friends), calendar to hold facebook events, birthdays, etc, camera for photo access that is stored directly on facebook. Beyond that, they do not offer apps unless you count the games that are on facebook which is really not anything new nor to write home about. If they got more web apps for the games they have available that might be a plus. Overall though, they have not created a sufficient enough ecosystem to call it an OS.

49.webOSlove (unregistered)

Maybe they should work on making an app for Android that doesn't suck first!!! Seriously... The app crashes constantly, can't load photos half the time, has connection errors... Why would I want a full integrated phone that offers the same crappy service?

"Traditionally, carriers have made money by selling packages of minutes and SMS texts. A Facebook phone could eliminate the need to do either of those things through AT&T or Verizon. Facebook has free call and chat features through its Messenger app. It could change carriers' business models altogether; the notion has to have them a little worried."

I dont know much about it....buts thats million of Facebook users that could either lower plans or go data only plans...

FAKEBOOK already data-mines EVERYTHING about you and prostitutes that info to every marketer for $$$$. So you need a FAKEBOOK phone so they track you to the toilet as well? If you need to ponder this question for more than a nanosecond, you probably either work for them or own their overpriced, fetid stock (...and on your hands & knees praying for a buy-out ).

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